K'stan and Mirugath

Kristan's story. (©SunBlind)
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Kristan was bored..........bored, bored, bored. Father constantly arguing prices for his fine heardbeasts, making sure Kristan stayed around to watch and learn. But Kristan didn't want to learn. Actually, he didn't even like herdbeasts....they smelt funny.

So Kristan entertained himself making patterns in the dirt with his shoe while his father droned on and on. The boy had to admit that the customer wasn't being fair, that the herdbeasts were probably worth more than he was offering, but Kristan would have been happy to just give him the animal so he'd go away and leave him alone. Then he could go play with the other boys at the Gather, and maybe buy himself a bubbly pie.

But as soon as one customer left, another one came. And just as stubborn as the first. Kristan sighed and looked up to the sky. In the air there was a dragon overhead, still far enough away for the herdbeasts to give it no mind. How Kristan wished that it would come closer and scared them. Maybe they'd get dirt all over the customer's new clothes. But the dragon settled on a distant ridge to lie in the sun while his rider enjoyed the Gather.

His father had said something to him. Quickly Kristan nodded as if he had been following the whole conversation. His father frowned. Maybe he should have shaken his head......oh well.

To an outside observer, Kristan might have been about 11 turns old, with dark unruly hair and extremely dark eyes. His skin was deeply tanned from working with the herdbeasts outside, and though he was still small, he was strong. He'd probably grow up to be average height with average looks. Actually, there was very little that stood out about the boy except that he looked like he was about to die of a bad case of boredom. He now focused his attention on his fingernails and tried to get rid of some of that ever present dirt.

Suddenly there were herdbeasts running all over the place. One in its terror had run right into the holding pen. Though the poor creature was now so stunned it couldn't move, the others ran through the broken fence. For a moment Kristan couldn't didn't know what to do. Then he grabbed the closest creature and covered it's head with his shirt. The animal stood there panting while Kristan tried to figure out what to do about the others. A large shadow loomed over him.....

The dragon watched the screaming herdbeasts with only slight interest, blue eyes swirling slowly. As if in play, the dragon growled at one which came too close. The herdbeast almost dropped dead with fear, the spun around and ran back to the holding pen. Kirstan glared at the blue.

"So it's your fault, you stupid dragon. Now father's going to lose all his herdbeasts....." Kristan trailed off as he saw the destruction and mayhem the animals were creating with the other market stalls and booths. The boy suddenly wanted the ground to open up and eat him whole. How was he ever going to explain this!

"Look at the mess you made!" he yelled at the dragon. The blue made a kind of wuffling sound. "GO AWAY. Then we'll be able to get the animals calmed down, if they haven't already hurt themselves...or someone else."

The dragon rumbled gently then leapt into the air. Kristan glared as the sound of dragonwings frightened the blindfolded herdbeast the boy was still holding.

One by one, with the help of the other Gather goers, most of the herdbeasts had been rounded up. One had broken a leg and had to be destroyed. Another had a large gash down one leg which would heal, but the scar was going to look bad pretty bad. A couple were just not to be found. Kristan started telling people that the "stupid dragon" probably ate them.

It was getting dark and people were closing up their stalls. Father had only managed to sell a couple of his animals before chaos had broken loose. He was not happy. Kristan wasn't happy either. He has spent the whole day looking for those mindless animals instead of being allowed to buy his bubbly pie and play with the other boys.

Dragons started taking to the air and vanishing Between, taking home Lord Holders, their families, harpers and riders. Kristan looked up at them, but only felt anger. He had always believed dragons to be magnificent and wise. But that dumb blue one had made a real mess of things. They weren't any smarter than the herdbeasts, only bigger. And to think he'd wanted to be a rider once. Just what he needed - a *really* big herdbeast. At least they didn't have the same dusty, musty smell.

Just as Kristan was about to help his father look one more time for the lost herdbeasts, a rider called out to him, "You boy! Wait."

Kristan turned, his ears turning red for being called a boy. "What?" he grumbled back.

"I'm sorry for what my dragon did. I don't know *what* he was thinking. He should have known better than to come so close to the herdbeast pens."

Kristan interrupted, "Oh, so that was *your* dragon." It was strange to hear such venom from a voice so young.

The rider hesitated. "Would you like to know why he came to see you without even saying a word about it to me?"

Kristan had to admit he was curious.

"Well, he thought you *might* make a good dragonrider, so he wanted to get a better look. He wasn't really sure at first, which is strange, because he usually knows right away. But the moment you turned to yell at him, he knew that his instincst were right. You'd make a great rider! He still told me that after you'd called him stupid, so he must really believe you have a good chance at Impression to ignore the insult," the rider babbles on as he laughs.

"So, you coming?" the rider gestures to the dragon sitting a fair distance away, head cocked to one side, almost pleading forgiveness.

Kristan looked at the herdbeasts, took a deep breath of their smell........hugged his father and followed the rider to the waiting dragon.

Stats:
Name: Mirugath
Rider: K'stan
Color: Blue (male)
Parents: Raith x Elheruth
Weyr: Lasair Weyr (Agency closed)
December 2000